Though Hell Should Bar the Way
by patricia51
Summary: When Private Wayne Jessup manages to save Sally after she was bitten by one of the flying creatures he sets in motion events that may not only save the two young people's lives but others as well.


Though Hell Should Bar the Way by patricia51

(When Private Wayne Jessup manages to save Sally after she was bitten by one of the flying creatures he sets in motion events that may not only save the two young people's lives but others as well.)

(When the three soldiers enter the grocery store there is some definite non-verbal signals between Wayne and Sally the cashier. Both smile at the sight of each other although Sally lowers her head and Wayne looks straight ahead as they do. And heck, they wouldn't be the first soldier and local girl to meet and fall in love and I'm not talking about "An Officer and a Gentleman" but something more along the lines of "The Sergeant and the Saleswoman".)

Sometimes life comes down to a single focused moment. Everything else, no matter how important, no matter how noisy and wild, fades into the background. So it was in that moment for Wayne Jessup. The shouts and screams of the other people in the grocery store, the pursuit of and by the other worldly flying creatures, even the gunshots by the armed assistant manager all seemed to go away. All that was left was Sally struggling wildly with the creature pinning her to the floor. He rushed to her.

Even as he did she arched and fell back, her hands unable to push the creature away as it sunk what Wayne thought must be its beak into the side of her neck. Frantic now he pounced on it, pulling with all of his might.

"Get off her," he shouted in his fury.

(Earlier)

Wayne Jessup had grown up in a small Midwestern town that in many ways was very similar to this one. He had enlisted in the Army right out of high school, imagining he would travel to strange unusual places in distant countries. He certainly hadn't expected to end up at a government research facility in Brigdon, Maine of all places.

Sometimes he wondered exactly why the Army was responsible for security out at the project. The scientists all seemed way out in left field but why was whatever they were doing that a Department of Defense responsibility was beyond him. Maybe the senior officer Colonel McKenzie knew but he sure hadn't shared with anyone who was talking. All they got at Wayne's level were stern warnings not to talk about what was going on, which was pretty easy as neither he nor any of his friends had the slightest idea of what WAS going on. He thought the NCO's and junior officers didn't know either.

Anyway it was none of his business anyway. He wasn't an MP and they guarded the building where the scientists worked. He was a mechanic who also doubled as a truck driver. Up until recently his biggest worry had been how to keep from being bored to death on his time off. The soldiers weren't restricted to base but Brigdon was a pretty small and tightly knit community without a whole lot for outsiders to do. Oh yeah there were a couple of bars on the outskirts of town but he wasn't twenty one yet. Besides, he knew places like that at home and strangers really weren't welcomed.

Well his buddies had talked him into taking ten days leave with them and they were going to catch the bus to New York City and see some real night life for a change. They had hitched a ride into town, checked in at the bus station and when they found they were thirty minutes early Wayne had naturally steered them to the grocery store. He had argued they needed to stock up on snacks and such for their trip but of course the real reason was he hoped to see Sally.

She was working as they came in. He smiled and pretended not to notice her. She smiled and looked down but for just a second their eyes met and Wayne's heart gave a loud thump. His pals wandered up and down the aisles but he hung out near the registers, hoping that she might be able to take a break and they could slip away for a minute or two together.

She knew about his trip to NYC and had told him to have a good time. "But not TOO good a time!" she had warned him while shaking a finger at him. Then they had laughed. Wayne wasn't that kind of guy. He couldn't have been and still have someone as wonderful and special as Sally interested in him.

One of the few places that the base and the nearby local community intermingled was at the local churches and their get-togethers. It was at one of those he had met Sally and he had been immediately taken with the young woman. Fortunately she had been interested in him as well. Like him she dreamed of one day going to faraway places.

Neither of them had a car. Sally still lived at home and her parents didn't approve of her dating someone not a local, at least beyond the bounds of church picnics and so forth. Wanting to respect their wishes he and Sally had pretty much confined their meetings to those events. However he often walked her home from the store when he could get into town and if they wandered a bit while doing that no one seemed to mind.

Where it was all going he had no idea. He admitted, to himself anyway, that it was all pretty "G Rated". The most they had ever done was hold hands and kiss. Okay, sometimes the kissing got pretty hot and sometimes instead of holding hands they walked with their arms around each other but that was what Sally liked and he did too in fact. All his buddies boasted of doing much more with THEIR girlfriends but Wayne noticed that they seemed to spend their weekends in the barracks or hanging out in the post game room instead of being with all those girls they talked about.

So naturally he had led his friends to the supermarket to wait. Not that they knew about Sally. But the little smile she gave him warmed his heart. And that was a good thing because when things started to go down hill they went in a hurry and they went way down. He cherished that warmth now.

First it had been the Military Policeman. All their plans for nothing. He was used to the dumb things the Army did. Probably just a drill but orders were orders. Then there had been the fire engines and police cars screaming by with the noise capped off by the sound of the civil defense siren sounding. Then his attention was jerked right into the store by Sally's voice.

"Oh my God!"

From there on the past few hours were a blur that seemed to be only a series of short scenes. The older man running across the parking lot with blood on his face, babbling wildly as he entered the store. The pleas to close the doors and the man running to his car as the white mist covered the town. The screams as the mist had overtaken the man as he fumbled with his keys. The shouted questions that no one had any answers for; the different wild guesses as to what had

One of the very few clear moments was when the woman left the store against all advice to go home to her little children. Wayne had been a bit ashamed about that. No one she asked to escort her would go. He should have volunteered. After all, wasn't that what the Army was for? But Sally was here and he needed to look after her. And then with everything else that had happened; the disturbance in the back room, the attempt of some of the people to leave and finally the appearance and attack of the flying creatures he knew he had made the correct choice. But he hoped the lady made it home and her children were alright.

(The Present)

Fear and anger gave him a burst of energy and he ripped the creature away from Sally, slamming it against a display of some kind again and again until it stopped moving. He turned back to her and nearly panicked. The side of her neck where the creature had bitten her was grotesquely swollen. She thrashed on the floor, her face turning blue. The bite must have been poisoned he realized. The swelling was cutting off her air. She couldn't breath! He had only seconds to do something or she would suffocate.

It hit him, a barely recalled memory of a first aid class presented one afternoon while they were waiting for their turn at the rifle range in basic. He had barely paid attention to the bored NCO but now it was crystal clear in his mind. Frantically he dashed into the Health and Beauty Aids aisle, snatching up a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. A coiled tube of clear plastic caught his eye and he grabbed it as well. He looked at the razors. All disposable safety razors. He needed something else. He caught sight of it, a box cutter hanging from the store manager's belt. Without explanation he yanked it away and raced back to Sally.

The older lady he remembered was a retired school teacher was seated on the floor with Sally's head in her lap.

"Hurry young man," she urged.

Falling to his knees he twisted open the top of the peroxide and poured it over Sally's swollen throat and the extended blade of the box cutter. Trembling he placed two fingers of his left hand on her neck, feeling for the tendons. Finding them he positioned the tip of the blade between them. And he froze. What if he was in the wrong place? What if he cut too deep? Then the older woman covered his hand with hers and spoke in a calm soothing voice.

"Do it. You can."

Wayne took a deep breath and cut. There was blood; and then there were bloody bubbles as air rushed out of Sally's lungs. Quickly he slid the tube in place.

The man with the young son knelt on his other side. "Here." He offered a rolled bandage and some tape. "We need to seal around the tube."

Sally's color returned to normal, at least as normal as the situation allowed for. The air rasped in and out of the tube. The man clapped Wayne on the shoulder. "Well done." He offered his hand.

"David Drayton." He nodded towards his boy. "My son Billy. And Mizz Reppler."

"Wayne Jessup." The two men shook and Wayne nodded to the older lady. "Ma'am."

The shaken group of survivors did their best to patch up the openings that the invading creatures had made and to strengthen the barriers to the outside. It was during this that Wayne noticed that the people were beginning to divide into two groups. One rallied around the tall figure if David. That group included Ollie Weaks, the assistant store manager. Wayne had talked to him before and not really been impressed but now he noticed how the short little man had become more determined and confident as the crisis went on. Others included Miss Reppler of course; several older, steady men Ambrose and Myron as well as Dan, the man that had first warned them of something being in the mist. A woman teacher just a few years older than he and Sally named Amanda filled out their group.

The two women immediately began watching over Sally and David's son Billy. David and a couple of the others conferred with Bud Brown the store manager. Discovering that Myron was a mechanic Wayne chatted with the man about cars and trucks, just trying to relax a little. Myron told Wayne all about his new pride and joy, the wrecker sitting out in the parking lot.

"She's a beauty. All the normal lift controls are duplicated in the cab. I can hook up to another vehicle and never leave the driver's seat."

The little conversations died out as a grim-faced David returned with Bud. Wayne was vaguely aware of a woman's voice coming from the other side of the store, a voice raised in what he recalled from his youth as "Hell and Damnation" preaching. He shrugged. Church was a part of his life, and his relationship with Sally but the one she and her parents attended, and now he did too, leaned a little bit more towards God the Merciful. That was something he hoped was looking after them now. Then he paid attention to David.

"Besides Sally several other people have been injured, one very badly. There are a few bandages and such here but we really need some serious first aid supplies. There's a pharmacy right next door." David looked at Wayne. "Can we count on the Armed Forces?"

"Yes."

"Don't worry about Sally," Miss Reppler reassured him. "We'll look after her. Try to find something to reduce the swelling. Steroids or Asthma inhalers or things like that. I wish we could give her Benadryl but she has no way to swallow.

The group slipped to the doors. Nothing could be seen. At least nothing was clinging to the glass. The store manager let them out, firmly closing the door behind them. As quickly and quietly as they could they crossed the parking lot, avoiding the occasional car. One had its door open. After a quick glimpse Wayne managed to keep his head turned away from what was in the driver's seat.

It only took moments to get to the pharmacy.

"Oh my God," muttered David. "It looks like they had the door propped open.

They entered the open door and scattered out to look for what they had come to get. Nothing moved; there were no sounds except for the scrape of their shoes and their breathing. Wayne slipped behind the counter, an idea coming to his mind as he remember the sister of a good friend back home and the emergency injector kit she always carried in case she was stung by a wasp. He had gone with her once to get a refill for it. Of course all pharmacies were different but he wondered if the arrangement of controlled medical supplies might be generally the same.

"Where is everyone?" whispered someone.

"Maybe they all left?" someone else replied as quietly as the first.

"Shhhhhhh," David suggested. Wayne agreed silently. He led his flashlight under one arm as he frantically rifled through supplies. Others gathered up burn ointment and bandages and pain medications. His hand contacted a familiar case, just like the one his friend's sister had carried. Holding it up he saw it was indeed what he wanted. Close at hand were some inhalers. Wayne felt triumphant.

That feeling was washed away instantly when someone gasped "Oh my God." As he sprang to his feet his flashlight beam illuminated something. It was a figure. A figure that because he had not seen clearly before his mind had dismissed it. Now he was horror-struck to see it was human, or had been, before it had been bound and covered in what appeared to be spider-webs.

Wayne throttled an urge to scream. David had asked if he could count on the Armed Forces. By God Wayne would show him he could. But even with his determination when he realized the figure on the wall was the MP who had stopped him and his friends earlier he had to swallow hard. He was drawn closer as the man tried to speak.

"The mist. It was their fault."

Two of the party attempted to cut the man down. But a touch on his body released a flood of tiny spiders. More, grown ones, appeared and attacked. Men screamed and Wayne saw at least one fall. A web barely missed him and he was burned. It was some kind of acid. As they fled for the grocery store Wayne hesitated for an instant. Although his skin crawled he reached out and managed to snatch the web belt from around the MP's waist and carry it with him.

Once the survivors made it back Wayne bolted for where Miss Reppler was tending to Sally. Kneeling beside her he took out one of the Epinephrine injectors. He tore off the protective cap and pressed the tip against Sally's thigh. The auto-injector triggered.

The young man and the older woman watched carefully. Wayne held a second injector in his hand, thoughts racing through his head. His sister's friend had once mentioned that if she passed out under no circumstances was she to be given a second shot. But that was for a bee sting. How much more poison could the sting of that creature have delivered?

He was absorbed watching Sally he basically missed the conversation David and the others were having about what the MP had said before dying. Had he really caught it he might have mentioned what he had heard about the "Arrowhead Project" but nothing but Sally mattered now so he didn't even think of it.

He was only vaguely aware at first of the tension rising between the small group of survivors who rallied around David and the majority, or seeming majority anyway, who seemed to be lining up behind some middle-aged woman who was sounding more and more like a fire and brimstone preacher. A very scary fire and brimstone preacher who seemed to be edging towards madness and more than just a little madness with some very pagan ideas about sacrifice thrown in. Unwilling sacrifices.

He tried to stay out of the way as much as possible. The finding of his two fellow soldiers dead, apparently from committing suicide by hanging themselves sparked a great deal of talk. He was glad he had long ago shed his coat and his uniform pants and shirt had become so dirty from the trip to the pharmacy that they were not instantly recognizable. He kept watch on Sally and kept close the web belt with its full holster he had taken from the MP.

There was a discussion among David's group about getting out of there. The older man and father was frantic to get home and find his wife. Wayne hardly blamed him for that. Sally's eyelids had fluttered a couple of times but she still had not yet woken up. That worried him although at the same time he thought that staying unconscious would spare her the pain of the hasty tracheotomy.

The night seemed tense. Wayne had heard enough to know that the monsters outside were only part of the problem. The woman, whom he remembered hearing was Mrs. Carmody, was whipping her followers into a frenzy that promised as much danger inside as out.

During the night Sally started to trash about and Wayne worried that the poison the creature injected into her was still affecting her. He gave her another shot and her spasms seemed to ease. But he knew that above all else he needed to get her to a doctor, to a hospital. So when David asked him if he wanted to join with them and try to get away he immediately agreed.

As morning arrived Wayne woke from the latest of a series of catnaps to find Sally was finally regaining consciousness. His excitement at this was short-lived. Looking around he saw the other members of his group were dismayed. The supplies they had gathered had been scattered and now David was facing Mrs. Carmody who was screaming something about a sacrifice and whose followers were surrounding the small group of friends.

He was horrified to realize that she was demanding David's son and the woman who was holding him to be human sacrifices to whatever the hell was out there. He fumbled frantically for the holster attached to the MP's web belt but had to abandon his attempt to draw the Beretta as he was forced to fling himself over Sally to protect her as the mob surged over them. All he could do for the others was pray, something he had been doing a LOT since this whole thing started.

The cries of the crowd were suddenly drowned out in the explosion of a handgun. Once, then twice it fired. He managed to twist around enough to see Ollie, a revolver held firmly in his hand with a look of determination on his face. In front of him Mrs. Carmody bent forward as though bowing to the man and then fell to the floor. As Ollie turned to cover the different members of the mob one by one, concentrating on the men, they fell back, seemingly coming to their senses after the frenzy of religious fanaticism Mrs. Carmody had whipped them into feeling.

Never-the-less David believed it was time to go. Sally was awake, in pain and very thirsty but able to walk albeit very unsteadily. Plans were quickly firmed up. The majority would head for David's vehicle. He could hold six and was close. Wayne and Sally would go with Myron whose wrecker was parked beside David's vehicle. The first group would head for David's house, the man hoping against hope that his wife had somehow survived. Myron would head south towards the nearest major hospital where they could possibly get Sally looked at.

The group shouldered their supplies and made ready. Nothing could be seen through the mist. Bud Brown the store manager yanked open the door and they all took off. They crouched down, trying to minimize their appearance, moving as quickly as possible while attempting to be as quiet as possible. It nearly worked.

They had passed several other vehicles, including one with the driver's door open and something that lay halfway in the vehicle that didn't bear examining too closely. The pace had quickened as they neared their goal. The something reared out of the mist right behind David and his group.

It looked like some giant praying mantis, reaching for Ollie. Other forms neared them as well. Wayne shouted a warning. This time he had the MP's nine-millimeter pistol in his right hand as he supported Sally with his left arm around her. Instinctively he fired, aiming at the creature's multi-faceted eyes. It collapsed as David wrenched open his driver's side door and the group began to jump in.

Ollie lifted his hand, the revolver in it and took aim as well right over Wayne's shoulder. The young private attempted to spin around but he was hampered by Sally and refused to let her go. A shot whistled by his head and then another. There was a scream from Myron that cut off abruptly.

No wonder, thought Wayne, his brain half-frozen by the sight as he finally turned around. No wonder Myron stopped screaming. A creature something like a huge crab had cut the man in half with an enormous claw. And the claw was reaching for them now.

Wayne shoved the Beretta past the reaching claw almost into the creature's clicking mouth. He squeezed the trigger repeatedly. The crab swiped at them, missing them only because Sally had half-collapsed again and they fell against the wrecker. Then the creature was gone. Whether he had killed it or just drove it off temporarily Wayne didn't know and had no intention of waiting to find out.

He looked down at Myron's body. God, the keys were still in the dead man's hand. He stooped and grabbed them, balancing Sally as he did. Then he had the door open and was sliding her across the seat just enough for him to hop in as well. He slammed the door, locked it and started the engine. It rumbled to life and just for an instant he let himself go numb with relief. Maybe they would get out of this yet.

He peered to the side. The headlights of David's vehicle lit up. He couldn't see exactly how many of the group were safely in there but the vehicle looked crowded. He did see Amanda, that was her name he suddenly remembered, the young woman that Mrs. Carmody wanted to sacrifice. She was holding David's young son in her lap and someone else seemed to be between them and David behind the wheel. He wished them the best of luck as they slowly pulled around the parking lot and disappeared.

Myron and he had talked about the wrecker. After all, there hadn't been much to talk about. So he was as familiar with everything as he could be without having actually been in the cab. He switched on the headlights and then doused them. My God they were too bright and bounced off the mist and back in to his face as well. Myron had mentioned fog lights. He fumbled with the switches. Would they come on without the headlights?

Yes! He shifted into drive and slowly left the parking lot, turning left when he reached the main street. He followed it out of town until he hit the state highway and headed south.

At the speed they were going he found he could keep right on the center of the pavement with one arm. That left him the other one free to wrap around Sally's shoulder and hold her tight. She pillowed her head against him. If he pretended hard enough for brief moments they could be just a guy and his girl cruising on Saturday night.

The various sights that appeared along the way gave the lie to that fantasy in a hurry. The pair stared straight ahead as much as possible, avoiding the creatures that flitted in and out of sight and what they had left behind of people and animals. They continued to creep down the road.

Sally had found she could swallow if she was very careful. So she sipped water and one of the things Wayne had grabbed in the aisle with the bandages and all had been a packet of headache powders. She had managed to get a couple of those down and the pain was much better. She really couldn't talk but she could whisper occasionally. The three little words she whispered more than once that he returned made him, even in these circumstances, as happy as he could ever have be. Almost. They just needed to get out of all this.

Several times they had to stop. Twice it was to detour around crashed vehicles in the road. Two more times they parked, killed all the lights and waited until the buzzing creatures attracted to the lights got bored and left. They weren't making very good time. But they were getting away. Maybe. He hoped. He prayed.

After what must have been hours but seemed like days Sally suddenly pulled at his arm. When she had his attention she pointed to a shape on the side of the road ahead.

"That's Mister Drayton's vehicle!" she whispered.

My God. Why had they stopped? Were they alright? He slowed to a crawl and drew up beside them. For a moment he flashed the light bar on top of the wrecker, the spinning yellow lights cutting through the mist. He pulled right up beside the other vehicle, so close they nearly touched. He could see Amanda and Billy looking out in amazement. He cracked the window, rolling it down not even an entire inch.

The other window responded and he saw David lean across Ollie, Amanda and his son.

"What's wrong?" Wayne asked; his voice pitched to just carry to the other car.

"Out of gas," David replied.

"We could probably roll the windows down and you could crawl through them into here," he said hopefully. "This truck has dual fuel tanks and the second one is still full."

Hope lit up the faces in the other vehicle only to be dashed. "We'd never all fit," replied David sadly. "But," he looked in the back seat and must have got some kind of agreement, "you could probably fit Amanda and Billy and maybe one other."

"What will the rest of you do?" Wayne asked.

David's face tightened. "We were just discussing that," he said and Wayne saw the gun in his hand. "We did have a plan. For some of us to escape the creatures."

There was no need to ask what that plan might be. Wayne gorge rose. To come all this way, make it this far and then have only two choices, suicide of death by the creatures. Then it hit him. He feverishly scanned the controls, turning on the inside lights for a moment.

"Don't do anything yet," he advised David. "Let me try something."

He pulled around to the front of David's vehicle. He fumbled with the control, trying to lower the tow cradle while backing up. At first he failed, pumping David's car with the corner of the lift. The second time he raised it too far and it scraped along the hood and to make matters worse he smacked the other vehicle's front bumper with the rear end of the wreck and pushed it askew. That required him to pull forward and reposition.

He was nearly grinding his teeth in frustration when Sally's hand on his arm stopped him. She leaned to him, raised herself and kissed him. That alone calmed him down. Taking exquisite care he rolled back and felt the leading edge of the lift slide under the other car. Gently he lifted it until the front wheels were off the ground.

"I hope he has it in neutral," he muttered as he shifted back to drive. He let the wrecker slip forward. There was a tug that had his heart in his throat for a moment and then the pair of joined vehicles pulled ahead.

As it turned out, in less than a mile a shape loomed in front of them. Before he had time to panic Wayne recognized it as a M109 series Self-propelled 155 millimeter howitzer. Soldier in full NBC protective gear rode on it. As they passed it the sun came out. There were other soldiers, using flamethrowers on spider cocoons and automatic weapons on flying creatures that were blinded by the light. A cargo vehicle rolled by and Wayne saw civilians in the back, including the woman who had left the store. She was holding two children.

Prayers DO come through Wayne thought. He hugged Sally and she hugged him back. He pulled the wrecker over and they got out. David and his group piled out of that vehicle as well.

A group of soldiers approached. Wayne spotted one with the light colored subdued oak leaf of a major on his uniform. He came to attention in the ripped and filthy remnants of his Class A uniform and saluted.

"Private First Class Jessup, Wayne A. reporting sir."

The officer returned the salute. He doffed his helmet and removed his protective mask.

"Status report Private."

In as few sentences as he could Wayne outlined the situation beginning from the first appearance of the mist. He glossed over some of the things at the grocery store although he mentioned there were still people barricaded there and told of the flight down the road.

"Well done, Private."

"Thank you sir. Sir? My," Wayne hesitated for a second and then plunged ahead, "my fiancee was stung by one of the flying creatures and had to have an emergency tracheotomy. She really needs a doctor."

"Absolutely." The officer summoned medics and an ambulance. "Ride along with her son," he instructed, giving his name as authorization. "Stay with her as long as you need. A headquarters has been set up at the nearest town next to the hospital. You can report there once she's settled and out of danger."

"Thank you sir."

Wayne quickly shook hands with David and the other survivors and got hugs from the women. He climbed into the ambulance and sat beside Sally's litter. He reached out and took her hand.

She whispered to him. He bent close to hear her.

"Fiancee huh?"

"I'm not taking no for an answer," he whispered back.

"Who said I was going to answer anything but yes?"

(The End)

(The title, by the way, comes from the poem "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes, one of the most lyrical poems ever written, even if his "Sherwood" is my favorite of all time.

"Then look for me by moonlight, Watch for me by moonlight, I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way.")


End file.
